DA 




Class MMg^ 
Book ^f? IS 



AN 

HISTORICAL 

ACCOUNT OF CUMNER; 

With some Particulars of the Traditions respecting 

THE DEATH OF THE COUNTESS OF LEICESTER; 

Also 

AN EXTRACT 

FROM 

ASHMOLE's ANTIQUITIES OF BERKSHIRE, 

Relative to that Transaction and Illustrative of 

t$t Romance of Ifcemlfoortfj* 

To which is added 

AN APPENDIX, 

Containing 
THE ORIGINAL BALLAD OF CUMNER HALL, 

AND OTHER INTERESTING MATTER. 



BY / 

HUGH USHER^TIGHE, Esq. 

Of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. 




SECOND EDITIOIS$:< 



OXFORD, 

PRINTED AND SOLD BY MUNDAY AND SLATTER, HERALD OFFICE, 

high-street; sold also BY T. H. WHITELEY, 

3, PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON. 

1821. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE deep interest so deservedly 
felt, and so openly evinced for every 
production which emanates from the 
highly -^gifted " Author of Waverly," 
reflects a corresponding interest on 
every subject connected with a Tale 
on which the finest feelings of the 
mind are unavoidably concentrated. 
These sentiments, so universally ex- 
cited by the perusal of this Author's 
former Tales, can assuredlv not have 

A 2 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

been lessened by his last production 
of " Kenil worth," which, perhaps, 
from the circumstances of the case, 
from the melancholy story of a very 
young and lovely woman contend- 
ing with villany and treachery, and 
struggling with the most trying hard- 
ships and privations, appeals more 
closely to the human heart, and is 
more calculated to excite the warm 
emotions of pity, than any of his 
earlier works. It is on the preva- 
lence of these feelings, that I venture 
to hope, that some account of Cum- 
ner, where the scene of this fasci- 



INTRODUCTION. V 

nating story is principally laid, and 
the narration of the facts, as given 
by Ashmole in his Antiquities of 
Berkshire, may not be deemed ut- 
terly devoid of interest. 

Scenes, characters, and incidents, 
in themselves trivial, or which had 
perhaps obtained an ephemeral ex- 
istence, and then subsided into ob- 
scurity or oblivion, derive from the 
powerful talent of description, pos- 
sessed by this Author, a splendour 
which does not intrinsically belong 
to them, and a sort of classic sanctity, 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

which attracts us to them with feel- 
ings of the liveliest curiosity; of 
this, Cumner is a strong instance: 
an obscure village, mentioned only 
in old topographical works as the 
scene of the tragic end of the unfor- 
tunate wife of Leicester, and now, 
by the efforts of genius, rendered 
more remarkable, in the nineteenth 
century, as having been the scene 
of that catastrophe, than it was in 
the sixteenth, when that catastrophe 
actually occurred. My residence in 
Oxford has enabled me to visit this 
interesting spot, and I have myself 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

experienced an enthusiasm, while 
standing amid the wreck of those 
scenes so accurately and beautifully 
described, which cannot fail of being 
felt, but which it is impossible for 
language adequately to define. 

I annex the facts of this melan- 
choly story, as related by Ashmole, 
and which is alluded to in the latter 
part of " Kenil worth/ - The same 
narration, in the same words, may 
be found in Anthony Wood's MSS. 
in the Ashmolean Collection; so 
that it is probable that Ashmole 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

borrowed his account from him. It 
is curious to observe the difference 
of the quaint and meagre style of 
the learned and indefatigable An- 
tiquary, when compared with the 
highly embellished language, and 
richly wrought imageries of the Nar- 
rator of the same events at the pre- 
sent time. 

In allusion to one circumstance, 
which makes a prominent figure in 
" Kenil worth," there is no reason 
to suppose that an inn, designated 
" the Black Bear/' flourished in 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

Cumner in the reign of Queen Eli- 
zabeth; but the spirit of romance 
has penetrated that retired spot; 
the pride of reputed ancestorial re- 
nown, and the solicitations of some 
romantic Members of this University 
have triumphed, and the sign of 
" the Black Bear " has been recently 
affixed to the public-house in the 
village, with the name of " Giles 
Gosling" inscribed beneath it. — I 
have taken every pains that a limited 
period allowed me, to obtain all the 
information I could procure for my 
work; and if my account, concise 



X INTRODUCTION. 

as it is, is enabled to interest or sa- 
tisfy any one's curiosity respecting 
the now-much-talked-of village of 
Cumner, I shall feel most deeply 
gratified. 

H. U. TIGHE. 



AN 

HISTORICAL 

ACCOUNT OF CUMNER. 

ClJMNER, situated in Berkshire, in the 
Hundred of Hormer, and Deanery of 
Abingdon, is built on the brow of a hill, 
commanding a very extensive view over 
the counties of Oxford and Gloucester. 
The parish extends about five miles in 
length, four in breadth, and contains 
many little tributary hamlets, of three, 
four, or five houses each.* The number 
of houses in the village of Cumner and 
its dependent hamlets, amounts to about a 
hundred, and the inhabitants of the whole 

* Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, vol. iv. 



12 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

parish do not exceed five hundred and 

fifty. 

The Hundred of Hormer, or as it is 
written in old records,, Hornemere, was 
granted to the Abbey of Abingdon, (which 
afterwards became one of the wealthiest 
monastic institutions in the kingdom, *) 
by Edward the Confessor. Previous to 
this magnificent proof of royal favour 
and piety, Ceadwalla, king of the West 
Saxons, gave twenty hides to the Abbey, 
some parcels of which lay in Cumner. 
In the year 968, King Edgar bestowed 
on this foundation thirty tenements, with 
lands belonging to them. From these, 
and many other grants from our ancient 

* Its revenues in 1117 were valued at nearly two thou- 
sand pounds a year. 



OF CUMNER. 13 

kings, every part of the Hundred of Hor- 
nier was found, at the Reformation, to be 
in the possession of the Abbey of Abing- 
don : and Leland tells us, that from 
Eynsham to Dorchester, the whole country 
belonged to that monastery. 

Of this extensive district, Cumner was 
honoured with signal marks of the favour 
and munificence of the members of this 
powerful body. The ruins of several stone 
crosses, which may still be seen in dif- 
ferent parts of the parish, remain monu- 
ments of its monastic possessors, and of 
their predilection for this salubrious spot. 
Here the superiors of the society had a 
cell, or place of retirement, called Cum- 
ner Place. Some authorities mention it 
as " a place of removal" for the monks, 



14 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

in case of any epidemic or contagious 
disease infecting the town of Abingdon.* 
In the year 1538,, Thomas Rowland, the 
last Abbot of Abingdon, on the suppres- 
sion of monasteries, surrendered all the 
extensive possessions of this convent into 
the hands of King Henry VIII. and 
amongst them the lands of Cumner fell to 
the crown. In 1546 the king, by letters 
patent, granted to George Owen, Esq. 
and John Bridges, Doctor in Physic, 
cc the lordship, manor, and rectorial tythes 
cc of Cumner, with all its rights and ap- 
" purtenances ; and particularly the capi- 
" tal messuage called Cumner Place, and 
" the close adjoining, called Cumner 
" Park, and the three closes called Saf- 



* Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica. — Ashmole's Anti- 
quities of Berkshire, vol. i. 



OF CUMNER. 15 

U fron Plottys." From this period it lias 
passed, by various grants, into the family 
of the Earl of Abingdon, to whom the 
parish now belongs. 

The ancient mansion-house of Cumner 
Place adjoined the west end of the church- 
yard. A heap of stones, and the foun- 
dations, now scarcely discernible, are all 
that remain of that venerable structure, 
where monks alternately prayed and 
feasted, and where beauty mourned the 
alienated affections of a faithless husband, 
and suffered a violent death ! This dread- 
ful catastrophe, revolting to humanity, is 
related fully by Ashmole, who has bor- 
rowed his account from the original one 
of Anthony Wood. This narration I have 
annexed, and though it combines all the 



16 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

principal incidents of that melancholy 
tale,, I am enabled to illustrate it by some 
additional remarks from other authorities. 

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, so dis- 
tinguished among the wise statesmen and 
handsome courtiers that thronged the 
court of " England's maiden Queen/' 
giving way for once to the softer sensi- 
bilities of his really noble disposition, 
united himself to Ann, the only daughter 
and heiress of Sir John Robsert, Knight, of 
Sisterne, in the county of Norfolk.* This 
union of affection was, for political rea- 
sons, kept secret, and the daughter of an 
obscure Knight, elevated to share the 
rank and honours of the first nobleman 

* Anthony Wood's MSS. — Dugdale's Baronage, vol. ii. 
p. 222. In Augustine Vincent's (the Windsor Herald) 
Catalogue of English Nobles, I find her styled Amie. 



OF CUMNER. 17 

in England, had little cause to complain 
of a temporary concealment. But in a 
mind so warped as Leicester's, his ruling 
passion soon stifled every other emotion* 
and the finer feelings of his nature were 
made subservient to that towering ambi- 
tion to which he had already so exclu- 
sively devoted himself. Imagining that 
the partiality of the Queen, then in the 
zenith of power and beauty, might induce 
her to grant him a participation of her 
regal dignity, he determined that his inno- 
cent wife should not prove a bar to his 
aggrandizement. Intent on freeing him- 
self from these bonds, he persuaded his 
confiding and unsuspecting Countess to 
remove to the house of one Anthony 
Forster 3 * a retainer of his own, and at 

* Ashmole's Antiquities of Berkshire— Dugdale's Baron- 
age, vol. 2. 

B 



18 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

that time his tenant * at Cumner Place. 
Of the atrocious attempts of Sir Richard 
Varney, and his accomplices, on the life 
of this unfortunate lady, and their too 

* From the following passage in Wood's Annals, vol. ii. 
p. 149, it appears, that Anthony Forster was a man of some 
importance : — ■ 

" Soon after the new Warden comes to Oxford, and the 
next day being the 30th of March, (1562,) came with Dr. 
Babington, the Vice-chancellor, Dr. Whyte, Warden of New 
College, and others, to Merton College gate, where, meeting 
him, certain of the Fellows gives them letters, under seal, 
from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Patron of that College, 
that he should be admitted Warden thereof; but the Fel- 
lows not agreeing at that time to give answer to his desire, 
deferred the matter to the 2nd of April : which day being 
come, he appears again at nine of the clock in the morning, 
accompanied with the before-mentioned persons, Henry 
Noreys of Wytham, Esq. and Anthony Forster of Cum- 
nore, Gent." 

In the same volume, p. 231, Wood, speaking of the Earl 
of Leicester's character, states, " that by the potency he had 
in the kingdom, and so consequently in the University, all 
persons were at his devotion, and nothing passed therein 
but he had intelligence by certain favourites that he enter- 
tained. Of these, the chief were, Dr. Walt. Baylie, Dr. 
Martin Culpeper, &c. The first, through his means obtained 
a fair estate, yet, towards his latter end, when he refused 
to consent to the making away of his Countess at Mr. 
Anthony Forster's house, in Comnore, was removed from 
his favour." 



OF CUMNER. 19 

successful completion, a succinct ac- 
count is given by Ashmole. This cruel 
murder was perpetrated on the night of 
Saturday, the 8th of September, 1560,* 
and the corpse of their wretched victim 
was precipitated down a flight of stone 
stairs, which led from the long gallery to 
the hall below, under the hope that it 
might give a plausibility to a tale by 
which they intended to conceal their 
crime. She was at first buried privately 
in Cumner Church, but some inquiry being 
about to be instituted concerning this 
mysterious transaction, her body was 
taken up, and solemnly re-buried in St. 
Mary's Church, Oxford, according to 
Anthony Wood, "at the upper end of the 
chancel," though no stone now remains to 

* Anthony Wood's MSS. 1658. 

b2 



20 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

mark the grave of this victim of insatiate 
ambition.* There is a tradition still ex- 
tant in the parish of Cumner, that the 
corpse of the unhappy Countess was found 
at the bottom of the stairs,, with a nail 
driven into her head. 

From this time the vengeance of heaven 
appears to have fallen, not only on the 
perpetrators of this atrocious murder, but 
also on the house in which it was com- 
mitted. After the death of Forster, 
Cumner Place was long uninhabited, and 
stories are still prevalent among the inha- 
bitants of Cumner of the spirit which 
frequented the deserted mansion : — 



* In the annexed account of Cumner, taken from Gough's 
Camden, it is stated that a monument was erected to her 
memory in St. Mary's Church. 



OF CUMNER. 21 

And in that manor now no more 
Is cheerful feast and sprightly ball ; 

For ever since that dreary hour 

Have spirits haunted Cumnor Hall. 

Cumnor Hall. 

The apparition was said to appear in the 
form of a young and beautiful woman, 
superbly attired, and was mostly seen on 
the steps, the immediate scene of the bar- 
barous act. The tradition of the place 
relates, that the ghost was at last removed 
from the house, and laid to rest in a pond 
at a short distance from it. 

This venerable monastic structure, hav- 
ing been long untenanted, was repaired 
about a century ago, for the reception of 
a farmer and his family. Report asserts 
that a journeyman carpenter, who was at 
that time employed by his master to take 
down some of the buildings, discovered a 



22 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

small trunk filled with gold coins, con- 
cealed in a chamber adjoining the long 
gallery. He left the neighbourhood of 
Cumner soon afterwards. About eleven 
years ago, the house again falling into a 
dilapidated state, it was taken down by 
the present owner, the Earl of Abing- 
don, and the site of Cumner Place is all 
that now remains of the favoured retreat 
of the powerful ecclesiastics of Abingdon. 
From inhabitants of the place, who re- 
member the edifice standing, and from 
several old authorities, I have collected 
the following description of it : — 

This ancient structure, which was of 
considerable extent, was built round a 
court or quadrangle of about seventy-two 
feet in length, and fifty in breadth. The 
principal entrance was on the north side, 



OF CUMKER. 23 

under an archway, with rooms on either 
side of it ; above these, €t the long gal- 
lery" extended the whole length of that 
side of the building. At the west end of 
this apartment, the flight of stone stairs, at 
the bottom of which the body of the un- 
fortunate Lady Leicester was said to have 
been found, led down to the quadrangle, 
and great hall of the edifice, which was 
at right angles to the long gallery. Over 
a room beyond the hall was the apartment 
celebrated by the name of " Lady Dud- 
ley's Chamber;" and indeed so great an 
interest had the fate of that hapless Lady 
excited, that the whole place is still gene- 
rally called at Cumner, " Dudley Castle." 
On the south side were some apartments 
which bore traces of superior magnifi- 
cence, but which were in a state of dila- 



24 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

pidation, when this seat of the wealthy 
Abbots became the residence of the indus- 
trious farmer. 

In the hall of this monkish edifice,* 
which was converted into a granary, was 
a large, old stone chimney-piece, on which 
were carved two mitres, and between them 
the name of 3t^4^ in ancient characters. 
At one end of it were the arms of the 
Abbey of Abingdon, and at the other, a 
shield. | 

" About four years ago, (says Dr. 
" Buckler,;):) the arms of the Abbey were 

* Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica. 

t Lyson supposes the date of the hall and chapel of 
Cumner Place, from the style of the windows, to have been 
as early as the fourteenth century. 

% Dr. Buckler's (the Vicar of Cumner,) Replies to Rowe 
Mores' Queries to the Clergy of Berks, Aug. 17, 1759. 



OF CUMNER. 25 

" to be seen prettily painted in the re- 
" mains of the glass of one of the win- 
" dows. But some careless hand, or the 
" fingers of some admirer of antiquity, 
" has robbed us of them. Over a door- 
u case in this hall is this date, 1575. 
" Over the great gate at the entrance of 
cc the court, in the front of the house, is 
" the following inscription : — 

" JANUA VITiE VERBUM DOMINI. 
" ANTONIUS FORSTER. 1575." 

The windows of this hall are still ex- 
tant in the church at Wytham, where 
they were removed by Lord Abingdon, 
and the gateways above-mentioned form 
the entrance into the church-yard at the 
same place. The boundaries of what was 
formerly the garden may still be traced. 



26 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT, &c. 

What is now called cc the Park" contains 
about twenty-five acres., but at the time 
when Cumner was more highly favoured, 
it is conjectured, from various circum- 
stances, that it extended to the boundary 
of the next parish, a distance of nearly 
three quarters of a mile from the house. 

The rustic simplicity of Cumner, so 
characteristic of an English village, can- 
not fail of interesting all those whose 
curiosity may induce them to visit a spot, 
which alike possesses charms for the anti- 
quary and lover of romance. 



ACCOUNT OF CUMNER, 

FROM GOUGH'S CAMDEN. 



ci At Cumner, a small town pleasantly 
situated on a hill, is a mineral purging 
water. The west door of the church is 
in the Saxon style. The Abbot of Abing- 
don had a manor here ; and a mansion- 
house with the arms of the Abbey on the 
Hall chimney-piece. When it was oc- 
cupied by Anthony Forster, who is buried, 
and has a brass in the church, the wife 
of the Earl of Leicester was supposed to 
have been privily made away with in it, 
being found at the bottom of the stairs, 



28 ACCOUNT OF CUMNER, &c. 

with her neck broken ; and though the body 
was taken up by the coroner, no discovery 
was made at the time, and she was hand- 
somely re-interred in St. Mary's Church, 
Oxford, where she has a monument; but 
by the confession of some concerned, it 
afterwards came out. The chamber called 
Dudley's was shewn in this house in 
Ashmole's time*" 




" r '' v; ^w^ 



IDTJDLEY E/Ji OF LEICESTER. 
Drawn dtEngropfd ' fry TZTlMat/iews, /r<?7n uJ^aznfzrz^ in fke Sodfeian &a&eru. 



FROM 

ASHMOLES 

antfettftfe* of 2fcrft$i)fce, 

Octavo, Vol. I. Page 149. 



" ROBERT Dudley Earl of Leicester, 
a very goodly personage., and singularly 
well featured, being a great favourite to 
Queen Elizabeth, it was thought, and 
commonly reported, that had he been a 
batchelor, or widower, the Queen would 
have made him her husband : to this end, 
to free himself of all obstacles, he com- 
mands his wife, or perhaps with fair flat- 
tering intreaties, desires her to repose 
herself here at his servant Anthony Fors- 



30 ASHMOLE'S ANTIQUITIES 

ter's house, who then lived at the afore- 
said manor house, (Cumner Place ;) and 
also prescribed to Sir Richard Varney, 
(a prompter to this design,) at his coming 
hither, that he should first attempt to poi- 
son her, and if that did not take effect, 
then by any other way whatsoever to dis- 
patch her. This, it seems, was proved 
by the report of Dr. Walter Bayly, some- 
time Fellow of New College, then living 
in Oxford, and Professor of Physic in 
that University, who because he would 
not consent to take away her life by 
poison, the Earl endeavoured to displace 
him from the court. This man, it seems, 
reported for most certain, that there was 
a practice in Cumnor among the conspi- 
rators, to have poisoned this poor inno- 
cent lady, a little before she was killed. 



OF BERKSHIRE. 31 

which was attempted after this manner. 
They seeing the good lady sad and 
heavy, (as one that well knew by her other 
handling that her death was not far off,) 
began to persuade her that her present 
disease was abundance of melancholy, 
and other humours, &c. And therefore 
would needs counsel her to take some 
potion, which she absolutely refusing to 
do, as still suspecting the worst : where- 
upon they sent a messenger on a day (un- 
awares to her) for Dr. Bayly, and intreat- 
ed him to persuade her to take some little 
potion by his direction, and they would 
fetch the same at Oxford, meaning to 
have added something of their own for 
her comfort, as the Doctor upon just 
cause, and consideration did suspect, 
seeing their great importunity, and the 



32 ASHMOLE'S ANTIQUITIES 

small need the lady had of physic ; and 
therefore he peremptorily denied their 
request, misdoubting, (as he afterwards 
reported,) least if they had poisoned her 
under the name of his potion, he might 
have been hanged for a colour of their 
sin ; and the Doctor remained still well 
assured, that this way taking no effect, 
she would not long escape their violence, 
which afterwards happened thus ; For 
Sir Richard Varney aforesaid, (the chief 
projector in this design,) who by the 
Earl's order remained that day of her 
death alone with her, with one man only, 
and Forster, who had that day forcibly 
sent away all her servants from her to 
Abingdon market, about three miles dis- 
tant from this place, they (I say whether 
first stifling her, or else strangling her 



OF BERKSHIRE. 33 

afterwards flung her down a pair of stairs, 
and broke her neck, using much violence 
upon her ; but yet, however, though it was 
vulgarly reported, that she by chance fell 
down stairs, (but yet without hurting her 
hood, that was upon her head,) yet the 
inhabitants will tell you there, that she 
was conveyed from her usual chamber, 
where she lay, to another, where the bed's 
head of the chamber stood close to a privy 
postern door, where they, in the night 
came and stifled her in her bed, bruised 
her head very much, broke her neck, and 
at length flung her down stairs, thereby 
believing the world would have thought it 
a mischance, and so have blinded their 
villany. But, behold the mercy and jus- 
tice of God in revenging and discovering 
this Lady's murder ; for one of the per- 



34 ASHMOLE'S ANTIQUITIES 

sons that was a coadjutor in this murder, 
was afterwards taken for a felony in the 
Marches of Wales, and offering to pub- 
lish the manner of the aforesaid mur- 
der was privately made away with in 
the prison by the Earl's appointment. 
And Sir Richard Varney, the other, 
dying about the same time in London, 
cried miserably, and blasphemed God, 
and said to a person of note (who has 
related the same to others since,) not 
long before his death, that all the devils 
in hell did tear him in pieces. Forster 
likewise after this fact, being a man for- 
merly addicted to hospitality, company, 
mirth, and music, was afterwards ob- 
served to forsake all this, and being af- 
fected with much melancholy and pensive- 
ness, (some say with madness,) pined and 



OF BERKSHIRE. 35 

drooped away. The wife too of Bald 
Butler, kinsman to the Earl, gave out the 
whole fact a little before her death. Nei- 
ther are the following passages to be for- 
gotten : That as soon as ever she was 
murdered, they made great haste to bury 
her before the Coroner had given in his 
inquest, (which the Earl himself con- 
demned as not done advisedly,) which 
her father Sir John Robertsett (as I sup- 
pose,) hearing of, came with all speed 
hither, caused her corpse to be taken up, 
the Coroner to sit upon her, and further 
enquiry to be made concerning this busi- 
ness to the full ; but it was generally 
thought, that the Earl stopped his mouth, 
and made up the business betwixt them, 
and the good Earl to make plain to the 
world, the great love he bare to her while 
c2 



36 ASHMOLE'S ANTIQUITIES. 

alive, what a grief the loss of so virtuous 
a lady was to his tender heart, caused 
(though the thing by these and other 
means was beaten into the heads of the 
principal men of the University of Ox- 
ford,) her body to be reburied in St. 
Marie's Church in Oxford, with great 
pomp and solemnity. It is remarkable, 
when Dr. Babington (the Earl's chaplain) 
did preach the funeral sermon, he tript 
once or twice in his speech, by recom- 
mending to their memories, that virtuous 
lady so 'pitifully murdered, instead of say- 
ing so pitifully slain. 

This Earl, after all his murders and 
poisonings, was himself poisoned by that 
which was prepared for others, (some say 
by his wife,) at Cornbury Lodge, (though 



EARL OF LEICESTER. 37 

Baker in his Chronicle would have had it 
at Killingworth.) Anno. 1588." 



Extract from a small Volume in the Bodleian Li- 
brary, printed in 1584, entitled, " The Copie of 
a Leter, wrytten by a Master of Arte of Cambrige, 
to his Friende in London, about some Proceed- 
inges of the Erie of Leycester and his Friendes 
in England." 

P. 27. " Onlie for the present I must 
advertise you that you may not take holde 
so exactlie of al my L. doinges in women's 
affaires, neither touching their Marriages, 
neither yet their husbandes. 

u For first his Lordship hath a speciall 
fortune, that when he desireth anie wo- 
man's favor, then what person soever 
standeth in his way, hath the luck to die 
quicklie for the finishing of his desire. As 



38 EARL OF LEICESTER. 

for example : when his Lordship was in 
full hope to marrie her Ma : and his own 
Wyfe stood in his light, as he supposed ; 
he did but send her asid, to the house of 
his Servaunt Forster of Cumner by Ox- 
forde, where shortlie after she had the 
chaunce to fal from a paire of stares, and 
so to breake her neck, but yet without 
hurting of her hoode, that stoode upon her 
heade. But Sir Richard Varney who by 
commaundment remayned with her that 
daye alone, wyth one man onlie, and had 
sent away perforce al her servauntes from 
her to a market two miles of, he (I say) 
with his Ma. can tel how she died, wh. 
Man being taken afterward for a fellonie 
in the Marches of Wales and offering to 
publish the maner of the said murder, was 
made awaye privilie in the Prison. And 



EARL OF LEICESTER. 39 

Sir Richard himself dying about the same 
time in London., cried piteouslie and blas- 
phemed God and said to a Gentleman of 
worship of mvne acquaintance, not long 
before his death, that al the Divels in hell 
did tear him in peeces. The wyfe also of 
Balde Butler, Kinsman to my L. gave out 
the whole fact a little before her death. 
But to return unto my purpose, this was 
my Lordes good fortune to have his wyfe 
die at that tyme when it was like to turne 
moste to his profit/' 



ACCOUNT OF THE MARRIAGE 

OF 

THE EARL OF LEICESTER, 

TO ' 

AMIE ROBSART, 

WITH SOME NOTICES OF HER FAMILY, &C. 

A HE following highly satisfactory and 
interesting account of the early life of the 
Earl of Leicester, is extracted from the 
u Biographia Britannica." It is the more 
curious, as it refutes, on the authority of 
some of our principal historians, the ac- 
count of the clandestine union of that 
nobleman with the unfortunate daughter 
of Sir John Robsart, but which gives such 
additional interest to the history of her 
wedded life, as related by the Author 
of the Romance of " Kenilworth." From 



AMIE ROBS ART. 41 

this account too,, it is evident that she was 
descended from illustrious ancestors, the 
representative of a noble family, and the 
heiress of extensive property. 

cc Robert Dudley, Baron of Denbigh, 
and Earl of Leicester, was son of John 
Duke of Northumberland, and brother 
to Ambrose Earl of Warwick. We 
have no certainty at all as to the time 
of his birth, or distinct account of the 
manner of his education, except that he 
had a competent knowledge of the Latin 
tongue, and was thoroughly versed in the 
Italian. He received the honour of knight- 
hood when he was but a youth, and came 
very early into the service and favour of 
King Edward. It was one of his Father's 
maxims to marry his children while they 



42 AMIE ROBSART. 

were young, as the surest means of fixing 
their fortunes, bringing them into a settled 
course of life, and giving him an opportu- 
nity of procuring for them valuable grants, 
or places of honour and profit. Accord- 
ingly June 4th, 1550, being the day after 
the marriage of his brother Lord Lisle, to 
the Duke of Somerset's daughter, Sir Ro- 
bert Dudley espoused Amie, daughter of 
Sir John Robsart, at Sheen, in Surrey, the 
King honouring their nuptials with his 
presence. King Edward enters this mar- 
riage in his journal in the following 
words : ' June 4. 1550. Sir Robert Dud- 
c ley third son to the Earl of Warwick, 
c married Sir John Robsart's daughter, 
' after which marriage there were certain 
' gentlemen that did strive who should 
Make away a goose's head, which was 



AMIE ROBSART. 43 

c hanged alive on two cross posts. ' # Au- 
thors differ as to the name of this lady. 
Brooke, in his first edition, f calls her 
Amie, in which he agrees with some an- 
cient authorities ; but in his second edi- 
tion, following the general course of other 
authors, he stiles her Anne, J and indeed in 
old writings it is very difficult to distin- 
guish between Amie, and Anne. She was 
a very considerable heiress, and descended 
of a noble family in Norfolk, one of her 
ancestors by the father's side, having been 
a peer of the realm in the reign of Henry 
V. and two of them, Knights of the Garter 
in the reign of that prince, and of his son. 



* Burners History of the Reformation, vol. ii. in the 
Appendix, p. 15. 

t Cat. of Nobility, p. 136. 

\ Vincent's Errors in Brooke's Cat. p. 310, 



44 AMIE ROBSART. 

So that this match, at the time it was 
made, agreed perfectly with his father's 
maxim, and afforded Sir Robert Dudley a 
very good establishment for a younger 
brother, which he improved by procuring 
grants to his father-in-law and himself. 
The death of this lady happened Septem- 
ber 8th, 1560, at a very unlucky juncture 
for the Earl's reputation, because the 
world at that time conceived it might be 
much for his conveniency to be without a 
wife, this island then holding two Queens, 
young and without husbands. The man- 
ner too of this poor lady's death, which 
Mr. Camden says, was by a fall from a 
high place, * was another untoward cir- 
cumstance, which added to the number of 



* Speaking of Leicester, he says, " Cujus uxor Robserti 
haeres, praecipitio perierat." Eliz. Annal. p. 84. 



AMIE ROBSART. 45 

this favourite's enemies,, filled the world 
with the rumour of a lamentable tragedy. 
The reader will perhaps expect to be gra- 
tified with some account of this, and it so 
falls out, that the industrious John Au- 
brey, Esq. speaking of Cumnor, in Berk- 
shire, where this happened, inserts the 
following relation, which is very circum- 
stantial, and carries in it strong pre- 
tences to absolute certainty." (The suc- 
cinct account of this catastrophe from 
Ashmole's Antiquities of Berkshire is here 
introduced.*) " There are some things 
in this account not very consistent, which 
in so dark an affair is not at all strange, 
but with respect to the least intelligible 
passage of all, which is her father's being 

* Inserted in page 29 of this Work. 



46 AMIE ROBSART. 

so silent about a matter,, which opened 
the mouths of all the world besides ; a 
very probable account may be given, 
which is this, the inquisition taken after 
the death of this lady, was to determine 
who were her heirs, for her father was 
long before dead, and this was the reason 
that the inquisition produced no other 
effect, than preserving the family estate, 
which was very considerable to John 
Walpole, Esq. ancestor to the present 
Earl of Orford. 

" It may not be amiss to observe, that 
the Lord Robert Robsart came over from 
the low countries with King Edward III. 
and that he left behind him three sons, 
John, Lewis, and Theodorick : or as we 



AMIE ROBSART. 47 

wrote it in those days, Tyrrey. Lewis, the 
second brother, became Lord Bourchier 
by his marriage, and was a Knight of the 
Order of the Garter, but dying in the life- 
time of his elder brother, he became his 
heir. This Sir John Robsart was also 
a Knight of the Garter, and dying in 
1450, left his estate to Sir John Robsart 
his son, who had issue Sir Theodorick, or 
Sir Tyrrey Robsart, who married the 
daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Sy- 
derston, in the county of Norfolk, by 
whom he had issue, Sir John Robsart, and 
a daughter Lucy, who married Edward 
Walpole, Esq. of Houghton. Sir John 
left behind him, an only daughter Amie, 
who was the wife of Lord Robert Dudley, 
and by the inquisition before mentioned, 



48 AMIE ROBSARTV 

John Walpole, Esq, in right of his mother 
Lucy Robsart, aunt to this unfortunate 
Lady, was found to be her next heir, and 
came into possession of her lands." 




ZABETIHL 



frjin a • • 



STATUE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, 

NEAR CUMNER. 



©INCE the publication of the first edi- 
tion of this small work, I have seen an 
ancient statue of Queen Elizabeth, which 
stands in the parish of Cumner, in the 
garden of a farm-house, near Ferry 
Hinksey, at present in the occupation of 
Mr. Salisbury Richards. This statue is 
about five feet four inches in height : 
it is of stone, well executed, and the 
ornaments of the dress carved with the 
greatest accuracy. There is no doubt 
that it is an original statue of that 

D 



50 STATUE OF 

popular sovereign, who is represented 
in the attitude in which she was so 
often delineated by her admirers, with a 
globe in her left hand : the right hand is 
broken off, but it probably held a sceptre. 
It was transferred to its present situation 
upwards of thirty years ago, from the 
Manor House, called Dean Court, though 
its proper name is Denton Court. Some 
persons now living remember it standing 
in that house about forty years since, and 
it is not improbable that at a period more 
remote, it ornamented Cumner Place, as 
Denton Court is in the parish of Cumner, 
and is also the property of the Earl of 
Abingdon. 

Denton Court was first abbreviated 
to Dencourt, and afterwards changed to 



QUEEN ELIZABETH. 51 

Dean Court, or Dane Court. Some writers* 
have asserted that the latter is the proper 
name, it being derived from the Danes 
having besieged Wytham Castle from that 
place, f This is refuted by that correct 
and diligent antiquary Hearne, in his 
Glossary to Peter Langtoft, page 594. 
He there says, that cc Denton Court, in the 
cc parish of Cumnor, near Abbington in 
cc Berks, was not so denominated from the 
ec Danes, as several have suggested, but 
e - from its being situated in a valley. In old 
" time there were at that place several little 

* This is A. Wood's opinion. See Lib. Nigr. vol. ii. 

t Some are of opinion that the Danes having taken this 
village of Seckworth, from thence besieged Wigtham 
Castle on the hill. Nor do I see any improbability in it* 
But whereas they add, that Denton Court, not far from 
Seckworth, was called so from the Danes, it is plainly a 
mistake, as may be seen from what I have observed in my 
Glossary to Peter Langtoft, p. 594 ; to which I refer the 
reader. — Hearne upon Chilswell Farm. 

d2 



52 STATUE OF 

" cottages, all which together were styled 
" Denton, i. e. a town in the valley ; but 
" a Manour House, called frequently in 
cc those days Curtis or Court, being at 
<c length built there, it was afterwards, 
cc as 'tis to this time, called Denton Court, 
" of which kind of courts there was a 
" vast number formerly/' 

When Cumner Place was pulled down, 
some of the materials were appropriated 
to building the new cottage of Dean 
Court, which is situated about a mile 
from Botley on the Cheltenham Road. 
The present inhabitant, Mr. Slatter, is of 
opinion, that it must formerly have been 
a large house, as pavement to a con- 
siderable extent has been discovered at 
different times. 



QUEEN ELIZABETH. 53 

I have annexed an accurate engraving 
of the statue, as illustrative of the anti- 
quities of the parish of Cumner, and likely 
to prove interesting to the lover of that 
species of research. 



CUMNER CHURCH. 

1 HE Church of Cumner is a strong- 
built edifice,, apparently of great antiquity. 
The precise date has not been ascertained,, 
but the west door is finished in the Saxon 
style. On the north side of the chancel is 
the tomb of Anthony Forster ; a monu- 
ment of grey marble, surmounted by a 
canopy of the same,, supported by two 
pillars. On the back of the tomb, on 
brass plates, are engraved a man in ar- 
mour, and his wife, in the habit of her 
times, both kneeling before a faldstool, 
together with the figures of three chil- 
dren kneeling behind their mother. A long 
epitaph assigns to him a large share of 




THE TOMB OFANTHC USTIBR. 



ANTHONY FORSTER. 55 

the virtues which most adorn the human 
character ; and from the historical narra- 
tive of his participation in the murder of 
the Countess of Leicester at his own 
house, proves how little reliance is to be 
placed on monumental panegyrics. 

The inscription under his figure is as 
follows : — 

antoniug tfarfter, generic generate prapago, 

Cumnerae ^arninug 2Sarrf)erien0£ erat: 
Hrmiger armigera prognatt^ patre ^tri^aron, 

<©ut quon&am 3|pl)tetf)ae &alopienG'£ erat 
<©uatuoc ejr ttta ffujrerunt ftemmate natf f 

€t itta antamug ftemmate quarts erat 
Mtntt fagajr, anima praecelten^ carpore pramptttf, 

Cfoquta tiulci^ are tiifertu^ erat, 
%n f act# prabita£ fttffc in fermane benufta^ 

3Jn tmltu grainta& reltgtane fitie^ 
gjn patrtam pieta& in egena£ grata bofanta& 

acceOunt reliqutg annumeranfca bani^ 



56 ANTHONY FORSTER. 

&it quoti cuncta rapit, rapuit non omnia fetfjum, 
&e& quae mor£ rapuit, tottDa fama tieDit* 

Underneath the figure of the lady are 
these lines : — 

3nna ftainoldo IBilfiamg tutt orta parente, 

€bafft merits armiger ille fui& 
£>e& minor J)Uic frater praettante laulie 2&aron# 

C£amen0£ iriguit gloria magna folu 
armiger ergo pater, i>ominu£ fed aimnculu£ annaes 

Clara erat £ei£ merits ctarior anna fu& 
Cafta biro, ttutriofa ©ei, iiilecta propinqu# f 

£>tirpe beata fat#, prole beata fati£ 
Heater 5!oanni^, mebiaque aetate ftobertt 

<£t tiemum $enrici nobil# ilia parent 
Cjntftia, genelope tumulo tlautmntur in ifto, 

anna £e& £oc tumulo fola fepulta jacet* 

The six following lines are written be- 
neath the foregoing, two by two, in praise 
of Anthony Forster : — 



ANTHONY FORSTER. 57 

argutae refonag cttfjarae praetentiere rfjortiag 

$ouit, et Simla concrepuiffe Ipra* 
$auutbat terrae tenera£ uetJgere plantar, 

€t mira pulrf)ra£ conttrum arte tiomo^ 
dTompoCta baria.g lingua formare foquelag 

©ottu£ t tt edocta fcnbere mtrfta mamu 



The arms are these : — 
C3. 

Quarterly. < 

The arms over her head are as follows : 



3. Hunter's horns, stringed. 

Pheons, with their points upwards. 



r l. Two organ pipes, in saltier, be- 
tween four crosses pate. 

2. A raven. 

3. A chevron ermine, between three 
Quarterly.^ lions' heads, erased within a 

border of roundelle, and on a 
chief bar a pale charged with 
a pelican. 
L4. As the first.* 

* Anthony Wood's MSS. 



58 CUMNER. 

At the foot of Anthony Forster's tomb 
lie the bodies of two of the daughters of 
Rainold Williams, probably the same fa- 
mily as the wife of Forster. The follow- 
ing is one of the inscriptions : — 

getigtibe i&tatosrtoon tiafter toftapgnolti tfcpllgamj* 
of 2Borftto in tjje Ccmntp o£ 2$arfc£ effpper* 

The other is imperfect, and almost ille- 
gible ; and is to the memory of Katha- 
rine, the wife of Henry Staverton, and 
also daughter of Rainold Williams, of 
Borfeld. 

In the south transept of the Church are 
two ancient tombs, supposed to be those 
of two Abbots of Abingdon.* 

* Lyson's Berkshire. 



CUMNER. 59 

" There is a tradition that Cassenton 
(on the other side of the Thames, in Ox- 
fordshire,) was in old times a chapel of 
ease to Cumner, and a part of the parish. 
It is said, that within these hundred years 
the people of Cassenton used to claim a 
right of burying there ; that they crossed 
the river with their dead at Somerford 
Mead, (where, it is said, the plank-stones 
are still to be seen by which they passed,) 
and from thence came up through the 
riding in Cumner Wood, (which they 
claimed as their church-way) and at a 
lane near a house called Blind Pinnock's, 
began their psalm singing, which lane is 
from hence called to this day, Songer's 
Lane. It is certain, that there is a part 
of Cumner ehurch-yard, lying behind the 
Church, known by the name of Cassenton 



60 CUMNER. 

Burying Place, and that a demand of an 
acknowledgement of sixpence per annum 
is frequently made, and always complied 
with, by the parish of Cumner."* 



It may not be uninteresting to notice 
some singular old customs prevalent at 
Cumner, as related by Dr. Buckler, but 
which, I understand, have been discon- 
tinued within the last few years. 

On " the Perambulation Circuit" of 
the parish in the Rogation Days, the 
vicar and parishioners used to go into 
the ferry on the boundary of the parish, 
and crossing over to the Oxfordshire side, 



* Dr. Buckler's Replies to Rowe Mores' Queries. — Bib- 
liotheca Topographica Britannica. 1759. 



CUMNER. 61 

they laid hold on the twigs, or reeds on 
the bank,, and concluded the ceremony by 
the Gospel of the Ascension. By this act, 
they were understood to assert the whole 
breadth of the river to belong to the pa- 
rish and manor of Cumner. The sum of 
6s. 8d. the amount of Swinford tyth- 
ing was always brought to the vicar at 
Eynsham Ferry in a bason of water by the 
ferryman, (who attended him with a clean 
napkin,) and after he had fished for his 
money, he was expected to distribute the 
water among the young people who came 
within his reach, as a token of remem- 
brance to them of the custom. 

It was, a few years ago, a custom in the 
parish of Cumner for the parishioners, all 
those who payed the vicar any tythes, im- 



62 CUMNER. 

mediately after prayers on the afternoon of 
Christmas Day to repair to the vicarage, 
where they were entertained with bread, 
cheese, and ale. They claimed on this 
occasion four bushels of malt brewed into 
ale and small beer, two bushels of wheat 
made into bread, and half a hundred 
weight of cheese ; the remains of the ale, 
small beer, bread and cheese were divided 
the next day after morning prayer to the 
poor of the parish.* This hospitable and 
charitable custom has now fallen into dis- 
use, and I understand, that a donation to 
the poor has been substituted in lieu of it. 

* Bibl. Topog. Brit.— Lyson's Berkshire. 



Cttmntr Han* 



X HE dews of summer night did fall, 
The moon (sweet regent of the sky) 

Silver'd the walls of Cumner Hall, 
And many an oak that grew thereby. 

Now nought was heard beneath the skies, 
(The sounds of busy life were still,) 

Save an unhappy lady's sighs, 
That issued from that lonely pile. 

" Leicester," she cried, " is this thy love, 
" That thou so oft has sworn to me, 

" To leave me in this lonely grove, 
" Immur'd in shameful privity 



64 CUMNER HALL, 

" No more thou comest with lover's speed, 
" Thy once beloved bride to see ; 

" But be she alive, or be she dead, 

" I fear, stern Earl, 's the same to thee* 

" Not so the usage I receiv'd, 

" When happy in my father's hall ; 

" No faithless husband then me griev'd, 
" No chilling fears did me appal. 

" I rose up with the cheerful morn, 

No lark more blithe, no flow'r more gay; 

" And, like the bird that haunts the thorn, 
" So merrily sung the live-long day. 

" If that my beauty is but small, 
" Among court ladies all despis'd ; 

" Why didst thou rend it from that hall, 
Where, scornful Earl, it well was priz'd ? 



AN OLD BALLAD, 65 

a And when you first to me made suit, 
" How fair I was you oft would say ! 

u And, proud of conquest, pluck' d the fruit, 
" Then left the blossom to decay. 

* 
" Yes, now neglected and despis'd, 

" The rose is pale — the lily's dead — 

u But he that once their charms so priz'd, 

" Is sure the cause those charms are fled. 

a For know, when sickening grief doth prey, 
u And tender love's repaid with scorn, 

M The sweetest beauty will decay — 

" What flow'ret can endure the storm ? 

" A court I'm told is beauty's throne, 
" Where every lady's passing rare ; 

" That eastern flowers, that shame the sun, 
" Are not so glowing, not so fair, 

E 



66 CUMNER HALL, 

" Then, Earl, why didst thou leave the beds 
" Where roses and where lilies vie, 

" To seek a primrose, whose pale shades 
" Must sicken — when those gaudes are by ? 

" 'Mong rural beauties I was one, 

" Among the fields wild flow'rs are fair; 

" Some country swain might me have won, 
" And thought my beauty passing rare. 

" But, Leicester, (or I much am wrong) 
" Or 'tis not beauty lures thy vows ; 

" Rather ambition's gilded crown 

" Makes thee forget thy humble spouse. 

" Then, Leicester, why, again I plead, 
" (The injur'd surely may repine,) 

" Why didst thou wed a country maid, 

" When some fair princess might be thine ? 



AN OLD BALLAD. 67 

H Why didst thou praise my humble charms, 
" And oh ! then leave them to decay ? 

u Why didst thou win me to thy arms, 

" Then leave me to mourn the live-long day ? 

" The village maidens of the plain 

u Salute me lowly as they go ; 
w Envious they mark my silken train, 

" Nor think a Countess can have woe. 

" The simple nymphs ! they little know 
" How far more happy' s their estate — 

" — To smile for joy — than sigh for woe — 
" — To be content — than to be great. 

" How far less blest am I than them ? 

" Daily to pine and waste with care ! 
" Like the poor plant, that from its stem 

" Divided — feels the chilling air. 



6$ CUMNER HALL, 

u Nor (cruel Earl !) can I enjoy 
" The humble charms of solitude ; 

" Your minions proud my peace destroy, 
" By sullen frowns or pratings rude. 

" Last night as sad I chanc'd to stray, 
" The village death-bell smote my ear ; 

iQ They wink'd aside, and seem'd to say, 
" Countess, prepare — thy end is near. 

" And now, while happy peasants sleep, 
" Here I sit lonely and forlorn ; 

" No one to sooth me as I weep, 
" Save Philomel on yonder thorn. 

" My spirits flag — my hopes decay — 

" Still that dread death-bell smites my ear ; 

" And many a boding seems to say, 
" Countess, prepare — thy end is near.'* 



AN OLD BALLAD. 69 

Thus sore and sad that lady griev'd, 
In Cumner Hall so lone and drear ; 

And many a heartfelt sigh she heav'd, 
And let fall many a bitter tear. 

And ere the dawn of day appear'd, 
In Cumner Hall so lone and drear, 

Full many a piercing scream was heard, 
And many a cry of mortal fear. 

The death-bell thrice was heard to ring, 
An aerial voice was heard to call ; 

And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing 
Around the tow'rs of Cumner Hall. 

The mastiff howPd at village door, 
The oaks were shattered on the green ; 

Woe was the hour — for never more 
That hapless Countess e'er was seen. 



/ 




7Q cumner hall. 








And in that manor now no more 




Is cheerful feast and sprightly ball 


9 


For ever since that dreary hour 




Have spirits haunted Cumner Hall. 



The village maids, with fearful glance, 
Avoid the ancient moss-grown wall ; 

Nor ever lead the merry dance 

Among the groves of Cumner Hall. 

Full many a traveller oft hath sigh'd, 
And pensive wept the Countess' fall, 

As wand'ring onwards they've espied 
The haunted tow'rs of Cumner Hall. 



THE END. 



Munday and Slatter, Printers, Oxford. 



